


The Snake's Apprentice

by Recovery_Zero



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Extremely Slow Burn, F/M, Slow Burn, half-blood reader, slight teacher-student relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-06-29 06:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19824604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Recovery_Zero/pseuds/Recovery_Zero
Summary: After finding your acceptance letter from Hogwarts your father had hidden from you, you make the decision to attend the school against his wishes. As you're placed in Slytherin, some of your housemates don't take to kindly to the fact you're a half-blood in their midst. Years pass, and as you age, you become unlikely companions with one of the most feared professors in all of Hogwarts. What will become of you as you realize just what you feel for your teacher, and how could you have even let this happen?





	1. Year One

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first work for Harry Potter as I've recently found my way into the fandom. I'm trying to get everything to be as correct as possible, but if I got something wrong, please let me know. 
> 
> The first seven or so chapters will be snippets of your life at Hogwarts as you progress through the years and are the beginnings of your relationship with Snape. The true romance won't start until after you're out of school as I won't be writing anything underage. Also, in this, Snape is 24 at the start, making him 31 still when Harry starts attending Hogwarts.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

You stood at the front of the Grand Hall, hands shaking, as you watched the other first years before you were being called forward to be placed in their houses. You took in their gleeful smiles as their new house names were called out and loud applause rang through the Hall after every placement. To be honest, you had no clue what you were even doing here. Sure, your father was a Wizard, but he wasn’t considerably open about it. He’d hidden your acceptance letter to Hogwarts from you, and the only reason you’d stumbled across it was because you’d gone snooping in his office.

Seeing your name written beautifully on the front of the letter, you couldn’t help yourself. You opened the note and felt your mouth fall open in surprised as your eyes glided across the words. Hurt coursed through your veins at the fact that nobody had spoken a word of this to you. Crumbling the letter in your closed fist, you’d stormed out of the study and rushed over to where your parents sat at the dining table on the first floor of your house. “What is this?” you demanded.

You noted the way both your parents’ eyes widened at the crumbled paper in your grasp. Finally, your father spoke. “How did you get that?” Anger sparked in you about the fact that he had thoroughly dodged the question and was simply more concerned about the fact that you’d found it.

“I found it in your study, father. How could you hide this from me? This is my future, not yours. If I want to go to a school for wizards, then I feel I should.”

“Autumn Wolfe.” Hearing your name called out snapped you back to the present, and on legs that felt as though they’d turned to noodles beneath you, you stepped up to the professor holding the Sorting Hat before you. Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, you felt the warm fabric being placed on your head. All was silent for a moment aside from the quiet mumblings from the hat above you.

“Hm, yes, I see. You’re definitely a bold one with huge ambitions. Do I put you in Gryffindor? No, no. I know. Slytherin!” There was muted applause as you glanced to the green-robed students clapping half-heartedly for you. As the sorting hat was removed from your head, you numbly made your way over to the table and took a seat beside one of the other first years girls that had already been placed in your house.

Dumbledore made his way behind the podium in the front of the hall after the last student was placed in their house and began his speech. The man’s words moved you, but you couldn’t help the nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you just didn’t quite belong here. All too soon, the man’s speech was over and the head of your house that had been introduced earlier as Professor Snape stood before Slytherin’s table.

The man’s eyes grazed over all the students, but he paid special attention to the first years as he began speaking. “Remember this,” his smooth, low voice began, “Slytherin will not tolerate disgrace.” As he spoke, you couldn’t help but feel as though his eyes lingered on you slightly longer than the rest of the students. With those encouraging words, your house prefect gathered up all the first years and began leading you all through the halls to the Slytherin common room which was located in the freezing dungeons of the school.

Hugging yourself to try and retain at least a little bit of warmth, you were ushered through the welcoming process and sent off to your dorm. You made your way to your designated room and carefully began unpacking what little belongings you had brought with you to the school aside from the necessary school supplies your father had begrudgingly taken you to buy. “So, Autumn, was it?” a female voice caught your attention. You glanced over to see a fair girl with jet black hair staring at you with her arms folded across her chest. Quickly, you recognized her as the girl you’d sat beside in the Great Hall.

Placing the textbooks that were in your hands on the nightstand, you faced what you figured to be your new roommate. “Yeah, Autumn Wolfe. Pleasure to meet you . . .” you trailed off, not even knowing the girl’s name.

“Molly, Molly Shuppert. And seeing as how we’re going to be roommates here, we might as well get to know each other a little better.”  
Eager to make a new friend finally, you and Molly stayed up later than what you should have unpacking your things and just simply chatting. You could sense this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

~

Glancing down at the schedule in your hands and back at the ominous door in front of you, you began questioning if you had the right room. You were supposed to be on your way to Potions class, but there was no way the class was being held down here in the dungeons. The thought of it made you uncomfortable, and just as you were about to turn around to find Molly for reassurance, a familiar voice sent cold chills down your spine. “Wolfe, are you just going to continue staring at the door hoping it opens for you before you are late, or are you actually going to get to your class?”

Spinning on your heel, you faced the head of your house with trepidation. “Professor Snape,” you began, not wanting to admit to the man that you may possibly be lost. All hope of that went out the window as he raised a single blow brow at you, prompting you to continue speaking. “I wasn’t sure if this was the right room or not.”

  
In the dim lighting, you couldn’t exactly tell, but it looked like the man’s eyes darkened as he continued simply staring at you. Finally, he spoke, “Still can’t navigate your way through the halls? Pity. Seems like Slytherin may be easily disgraced this year.” You felt blood rush to your face, tinting your cheeks red. Before he could hopefully see it, you turned away from him, hiding your embarrassment. With a sigh, Snape stepped forward, brushing past you and opening the door you’d been questioning for a while now and stepped in.

Glancing up, you saw students scattered across the room sitting at workstations. Thankfully, you took notice of Molly sitting at a table by herself and you rushed in, quickly sitting beside her. She sent you a quick look of pity before focusing on Professor Snape making his way to the front of the room. You couldn’t help but watch as the man gracefully navigated his way through the aisle between the desks to his rightful spot. With a flair and his cloak billowing about his form, Snape turned and faced his students. You felt your cheeks flush once again as his dark gaze settled on your seated form. “Now that you are all finally here, let us begin.”

You heard snickers throughout the room and as you glanced around, you noticed it was your own house laughing at your expense. Your professor simply glanced in their direction before addressing the class once again. “Open your books to page 18.” Finally glancing away from Professor Snape, you did as instructed and quietly hoped you could make it through the day without any more embarrassment.

~

Months had passed, and you were sitting in your normal seat in the back of your potions class. It was now well after Christmas break and the chill that always hung in the air was amplified by the cold air outside. It was already a miserable day, and just as you’d expected, it was only going to get worse. Snape hadn’t yet entered the room, so it was still just the students. Your head rested against your hand, keeping yourself propped up, and in an instant, your arm was swiped out from beneath you, and your face fell flat against your desk.

In an instant, you were out of your chair and on your feet facing none other than Rhett Devine. Over the last two months, he’d taken it upon himself to make your life a living hell after he found out you were a half-blood whose wizard father practically disowned her after you ran off to attend Hogwarts. At your sides, your hands were clenched into fists, and the temptation to grab your wand was completely overwhelming. If you were anywhere else in the castle you would have, but you knew better than to do anything of the likes in Snape’s classroom. Instead, you settled for simply berating the male. “Nothing better to do than harass me yet, Devine?”

With a smug grin, Rhett turned to face his two lackeys that had sauntered up behind him. “Can you two think of anything more fun that hounding the outcast of Slytherin?” He faced you once again. “Because I sure can’t. Nothing better than making your life a living hell, half-blood.” You took a step forward, ready to rearrange Rhett’s face with your fists, but a hand on your arm stopped you. Glancing over your shoulder, you saw Molly giving you a pitiful, but disapproving look. This only egged Rhett on more. “Don’t know how you managed to sneak your way into Slytherin the way you are. Your own father doesn’t even want you, leaving only your muggle mother to care for you.”

“Shut your mouth, Devine before I shut it for you,” you threatened, shaking out of Molly’s grasp.

“I’d like to see you try, Wolfe.”

Just as you were about to lunge forward, fists at the ready, the door to the classroom flew open and Professor Snape stepped through, dramatic as always. Instantly, your hands flew to your sides as you faced your teacher. “Does anyone care to tell me what exactly is going on here?” Snape asked, his eyes glancing over the scene before him before settling solely on you.

Setting your jaw, you took a deep breath. “Nothing Professor, Devine simply had something to tell me.”

You barely caught the flash of doubt that crossed Snape’s features as his eyes narrowed at you. “See me after class again, Wolfe.” You sighed before nodding at your professor. Staying after class with him had become a bit of a regular thing for you as of late. “Now, all of you take your seats.” You sent a quick glare at the males still standing there sneering at you before shuffling back into your seat.

The class passed by in an uneventful blur, your fury still rearing its head within you, and finally, the rest of the class was dismissed. You remained in your seat as your classmates stood and made their way to leave. Some of them sent you pitying looks as they passed your desk to leave the room. Molly was the last to leave, and she gave you a reassuring pat on the shoulder before leaving. As soon as the door shut, Snape folded his arms across his chest and his gaze zeroed in on you. There was a thick silence between the two of you before he finally spoke up. “Care to tell me just what was going on in my classroom Wolfe?”

Why did you have to be cursed? Why did Snape have to be the teacher that caught you and also be the head of your house? You quickly debated over telling him what actually happened and decided against it. “I already told you sir; Devine just had something he really needed to tell me.”

The man’s face remained completely blank as he stared back at you, seemingly unamused. You couldn’t tell if he’d taken the bait. “And just what was so important that he absolutely had to tell you?”

Crap. You hadn’t thought this far ahead and came up with a lie on the spot. “He forgot his homework and needed help.”

Snape began walking down the aisle toward where you still sat behind your desk. His gaze burned holes through you as he neared your form. “And of all people, he asked you?”

“Yes Sir.”

“The student, who as of late, has had some of the worst grades in my class?”

You worried your bottom lip slightly at his demeaning words. “Yes, Professor. It’s not like I’m trying to fail. I’m doing my best, really.” You could immediately see the disbelief roiling in the depths of his black eyes. To be perfectly honest, that stung. You really were trying your hardest in his class, but for some reason, everything always went wrong. You followed the directions for every potion perfectly, but recently, without fail, something would go horribly, impossibly wrong.

There was yet another long pause from Snape as he mulled over your words. “Would you like to tell me the truth Wolfe, or shall I break out my stores of Veritaserum to weasel it out of you?”

The weight of his words sank in. He truly didn’t believe you, and you didn’t know if you were truly willingly to call his bluff. He wouldn’t use the serum on a student over this . . . Would he? Was he even allowed to? You could simply tell him the truth, but then you’d look weak in everyone’s eyes. More importantly, you’d look weak to your favorite professor. You refused to let that happen. “Is this really that important, Professor?”

Snape placed his hand on your desk, idly drumming a single finger on it as he continued to stare at you. “I will not stand for liars and insubordination in my house, Wolfe.”  
You couldn’t tell if he was talking about you in specific at this point. Finally giving in, you gave him a simple blanket statement as you hoped to avoid embarrassing yourself in front of him. “Well, Devine found out some things about me and refuses to leave me alone now.”

“I don’t see what the problem is that would cause you two to disrupt class in the manner you did.” For a brief moment, you pondered the meaning of his words. Had Snape seen the fact that you were about to pummel your classmate into a bloody pulp? Surely if he had you would be in detention right now and not sitting here having a conversation with the man.

Simply dodging his insinuations again, you gave him an easy, “You’re right Professor. It won’t happen again.”

Seemingly pleased with your quick compliance, Snape finally removed his hand from where it rested still on your desk. “I’d recommend not, unless you wish to spend a week’s worth of your evenings here with me in detention.”

Your eyes widened in surprise. As much as you’d begun to look up to your Professor, you couldn’t think of a worse way to spend your evenings. Surely, he’d have you doing meaningless, grueling tasks just to watch you suffer. “Of course not, Professor.”

“Very well,” Snape said as he turned away from you. He made his way back to the front of the classroom, and you couldn’t help but watch his flowing black cloak billowing around him as he moved. “You are dismissed, Wolfe.” Quickly, you gathered up your belongings and clutched them close to your chest as you made your way for the door. “Oh, one last thing.” Snape’s voice caused you to halt a few steps from the door, and you spun to face him. Snape was standing in front of the board with his arms crossed, signature glower in place. “Figure out your grades Wolfe. I don’t accept failure in my house either.”

With a nod and a simple, “Yes sir,” you were out the door and on your way to your next class. Your mind was reeling with the actuality of what just happened.


	2. Year Two

You stood across from Devine, your face beet red from both anger and the fact that you’d just been screaming at your housemate. Devine had once again made a terribly low blow regarding your family and status, and you simply couldn’t take the abuse anymore. After dealing with it for most of your first year coupled with the fact that it was merely your first day back at Hogwarts after summer vacation, you completely lost your cool. There was only one thing that could’ve possibly made your day worse and that would’ve been your teacher strolling in right about now.

As if on cue, the door flew open as Devine began his rebuttal to you calling him an uncultured swine. Without a single pause, Snape blew past the two of you and simply uttered, “Wolfe, detention. One week, starting after dinner tonight.” Your still raging anger flared again at the thought that you were the one being punished! Devine was the one that started it, and you couldn’t believe he was getting off the hook so easily.

Unbeknownst to you, Devine fell right into Snape’s carefully laid trap. With a smirk, Devine chuckled. “That’s what you get Wolfe. Way to start off the new year, huh?”

“Devine.” Both of your heads snapped to where your professor stood, arms crossed, terrifying scowl firmly in place. “Detention. Two weeks. With Hagrid, starting immediately after classes today.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see the smirk immediately fall from Rhett’s face. “But sir—"

Snape was having none of it. “10 points from Slytherin and another weeks worth of detention for speaking out of line. Anything else you’d like to add Mr. Devine?” The male beside you simply grumbled to himself as he sulked back to his seat. You did the same, but you yourself were biting back a vicious smirk. It was nice to finally see him get just what he deserved, and you had a feeling Snape was going to have words with Hagrid about just what he wanted Devine to be doing.

~~

Class was dismissed, and you gathered your books, grinning at your best friend that was standing beside you, completely dumbstruck. “You just got a week’s worth of detention from Snape, and you’re smiling right now? Have you gone mad?”

Making your way to the door, you simply shrugged at her. “It’s gonna suck, but it was worth it to see the look on Devine’s face when he got three weeks of it.” As the two of you crossed the threshold of the potions classroom, your books were out of your hands in a flash and scattered across the cold, hard floor.

“This is all your fault, Wolfe,” an all too familiar voice snarled at you.

Glancing at Devine out of the corner of you eye, you moved to clean up the mess he’d made of your schoolbooks. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of getting you riled up again, you easily responded to him with, “Have fun shoveling shit for the next three weeks.”

Your plan had worked slightly, but mostly it backfired onto you as your words did nothing but completely enrage your bully. “You wicked little wretch! You’ll get what’s coming to you.” Having finally gathered your belongings, you stood before Devine, hands clenching the covers of your books in a death grasp. “Maybe if your father actually wanted you, he would’ve taught you how to be a real witch.”

You tried so hard to not give in to his words, but you really couldn’t help yourself anymore. “If your parents actually cared about you, maybe they would’ve taught you how to behave like an actual human being instead of the creature you are today.”

Rhett closed the distance between the two of you in a second. “How dare you speak to me that way.”

The only thing keeping you sane at this point was the gentle hand that grabbed your elbow, pulling you away from Devine. “Autumn, that’s enough. You’re already in enough trouble with Professor Snape. Let’s just go before we’re late to Charms,” Molly pleaded with you, not wanting to see you get more detention, or worse for fighting with Rhett.

Not wanting to cause your friend any more worry than you already had, you agreed with her. “You’re right, let’s go.”

The two of you turned and made your way down the hall, leaving Devine standing there, red in the face with anger as he watched you disappear down the hallway. Taking a deep breath, you were glad that Snape didn’t barge out of the doorway like he had that morning. What you didn’t think about was the possibility of him lurking behind the door, hearing every word the two of you exchanged.

~

It was after dinner, and rather than going back to your room to work on homework and relax like the rest of the students, you made your way into the dungeons where your Professor was surely waiting on you. Sure enough, you shoved the heavy door to the classroom open and Snape was lurking in the front of the room surrounded by stacks of cauldrons. Sighing to yourself, you made your way to the front of the room where Snape was standing and waited patiently for him to address you.

Glancing at you, expression clearly unamused, he finally gave you your punishment. “Today, you’ll be cleaning cauldrons.” You knew it. Meaningless, grueling busywork. “You’re finished when I say you’re done.”

Nodding, you rolled up the sleeves to your robes and grabbed the cleaning brushes Snape had placed out for you. Grabbing the nearest cauldron, you sat down and got to work. What seemed like hours passed, but it could’ve been mere minutes. You could no longer tell with just how dull the task you had to complete was. You were working on what had to be cauldron number fifteen when Snape finally spoke up. “I heard what happened today.”

You were so lost in your own world that you hadn’t even heard him approach. Last you knew, he was sitting in his office off to the side, flipping through papers and grumbling to himself. At the sound of his voice so close to you, the brush fell out of your grasp and clattered loudly against the walls of the half-cleaned cauldron. Focusing on grabbing the brush and getting back to work, you simply replied with, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have behaved as I did.”

As usual, a silence ensued and the only sound in the entire room was the sound of bristles scraping against rough metal. “That’s not what I’m getting at here.” Your curiosity was now piqued, but you refused to show it. “Don’t listen to what Devine says. Half-blood or not, you have more promise in your left hand than he has overall.”

Your ministrations faltered at his words. Had your professor just complimented you? Professor Snape? There was no way. Completely shocked, you did the only thing you remembered how to do, and that was scrub harder at the grimy walls of the cauldron. Finally, you gathered yourself enough to respond. “Thank you, Professor, but to be honest, I’m still doing rather poorly in your class.”

“You’re right. I shall amend my last statement. Should you get your potions grade up to par, you’d have the amount of promise I spoke of earlier.” You couldn’t believe your ears. It was slightly backhanded, but it was still a compliment from the toughest professor in the entire school. You glanced up quickly and met his eyes for a brief second before immediately staring back down at your muck covered hands. Not completely sure of yourself, you could’ve sworn you’d seen the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“After falling behind in your class last year, I’m not sure if I can ever catch back up,” you admitted to Snape, your tone laced with shame and embarrassment.

You could feel his burning gaze watching you as you refused to look at anything other than what your hands were doing. You didn’t want to see his reaction to your words—didn’t want to see the look when he realized how much of a failure you really were at this. Instead of the verbal berating you were expecting, his words threw you back into another confused spiral. “How much effort are you willing to put forth Wolfe?”

Finally pausing in your task, you set the brush on the desk and glanced up at Snape. “As much as needed, and then some,” you replied confidently. “Professor, I truly enjoy this class. Honestly, it’s easily my favorite, and I might actually pursue potion making after I leave this school, but with Devine sabotaging me constantly and turning the house against me . . . I can’t seem to do as well as I mean to.”

You noticed some emotion flash behind your teacher’s eyes, but it was gone before you could actually place what it was. “Wolfe, repeat what you just told me.”

You could feel your cheeks begin to flare and your eyes darted away from his. You scanned the room, looking for anything to focus on aside from the man looming before you. “I, uh, I really enjoy your class,” you repeated, uneasily.

Snape let out a frustrated sound. “No. Not that, the part about Devine.”

Slowly, your eyes widened as you realized what you’d actually said. You’d let it slip that Devine was constantly sabotaging your work for a good half of the first year, and you’d never told a soul. You refused to put yourself out there and make such an accusation with so many people willing to speak out against you. “Oh, well, you know, he just distracts me all the time so I can never focus on what I’m doing and add the wrong ingredients. It’s truly my fault Professor.”

“Wolfe.” There was something in your teacher’s tone that you couldn’t place, and it prompted you to finally drag your gaze back to his.

“Yes, Professor?” you asked, voice meeker than you’d hoped it would sound.

“Do you remember last year when I threatened you with Veritaserum? That threat is still completely on the table if you continue to lie to me about this as you are now.”

You remembered full well about how you were in a similar predicament last year and your teacher threatened to give you the serum. How did he pick out your lies so easily? Sighing, you didn’t want to press your luck with him. “It’s really not that big of a deal Professor. I’m sure I can handle it on my own.”

Seemingly annoyed by your words, Snape placed his hands on the desk in front of you, leaning in to emphasize his next words. “It’s the principle of the matter. No student under my watch will suffer at the hands of another, especially if the second party is another one of my students.”

Your teacher’s words touched you. You weren’t sure exactly what his motives were, but Snape was showing a side of himself that he’d never shown before and finally, you were willing to admit the truth to him. “Devine has been sabotaging my work since about halfway through our first year. He’ll slip extra ingredients into my potion himself, or he’ll send over one of his friends. I never understood how I was doing so poorly in your class until one day I caught Devine altering my work. I didn’t want to seem weak, like I couldn’t handle myself or my problems, so I just kept quiet about it.” You’d begun fiddling with your hands, not sure what exactly to do as you spilled your guts to Snape finally.

Carefully, Snape removed his hands from your desk and took a step back. “Right. I’ll handle this matter quickly.”

In an instant, you were standing. Your hands were on the desk, and you were leaning forward. The screech of your chair sliding back echoed through the silent room. “Professor, with all due respect, I’d rather they not find out you know about the situation. They already have enough ammunition against me. That group really doesn’t need anymore.”

“Of course, Wolfe. You can trust they’ll never find out.” Relieved, you nodded to convey your gratitude to him. “Now, as for your utterly pathetic grade, you will begin studying with me after dinner on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Your heart soared with complete and utter gratitude. “Thank you so much, that would be amazing Professor!”

With a nod of affirmation, Snape glanced at the piles of cauldrons still surrounding you. They were separated between cleaned and still completely filthy. His eyes fell back on to you one last time before saying, “I think you’ve cleaned enough for one night.”

Quickly tidying up the mess you’d made on the desk, you made your way back to your dorm room. You actually felt better than when you’d walked into the class for your punishment. _Odd,_ you thought to yourself. _Normally people coming back from detention with Professor Snape look ten times worse than when they went there._

~

A few days had passed since your initial detention with Professor Snape, and sure enough, you watched from the corner of your eye as none other than Devine made his way closer to your desk. Sitting on the desk in front of you was a rather well brewed cure for boils if you did say so yourself. You could see Devine’s beady brown eyes zeroed in on your potion as he slinked across the aisle. You knew exactly what was going to happen, and silently, you braced yourself for the noxious fumes or explosion that was about to occur in front of you.

To your utter surprise, just as Devine stood just beside your desk, your professor’s deep voice boomed throughout the room. “Devine, would you mind telling me why exactly you’re hovering over another student’s work?”

Rhett’s hand that had been hovering over your cauldron instantly dropped to his side as he stuttered out an almost coherent answer. “I was just, y’know, comparing my work to make sure I did it right.”

Fighting to hide your smirk, you watched as Snape quickly closed the distance between him and his troublesome student. “Curious,” Snape began, his eyes darting from your potion, to your face, down to Devine’s clenched fist, and back to his student’s weary gaze. “Why, of all people in this class, would you pick Wolfe? She’s easily the second worst student in this class.” You couldn’t help but feel your face redden at your teacher’s comment. He of all people knew the situation; he didn’t need to go dragging your name through the dirt even more than it already was.

Rhett thought Snape was on his side of the situation, and he smirked lazily. “Well, I figured that if my potion looked anything like hers, clearly I did something wrong.”

Snape’s expression had yet to change, and you couldn’t tell for the life of you if he was clueless to Devine’s plot or if he was laying another trap for the boy. “Very well.” Snape gave his signature long pause, and you weren’t sure if that was his way of dismissing Rhett. Your teacher’s gaze never left the male’s face, but you hoped and prayed with everything that you had that he could see your pleading gaze in his peripherals. “Would you mind telling me what you’ve got there in your hand?” You let out the breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding.

Devine’s hand clenched tighter around whatever he’d been planning to make a fool of you with. “Nothing, Professor. Just an ingredient for my potion.”

To your amusement, you caught a quick devious glint in your Professor’s eyes that instantly vanished as he grabbed hold of Devine’s elbow. Dragging the male back to his desk, Snape motioned toward the cauldron resting on the desk before them. “Then I’m sure you’d have no problem adding it.” Rhett made no move to follow his teacher’s lead, and Snape was having none of it. “Do it,” he demanded, and Devine reluctantly let the fine powder escape his grasp through his fingers.

From where you sat, you could hear a low gurgling noise, and sure enough, with a pop, the contents of Devine’s cauldron came flying back out at him. Devine shook the sludge from his hands and looked up sheepishly at Professor Snape. “Trying to sabotage another student’s work, Devine. Shameful behavior. Twenty points from Slytherin and a month’s worth of detention added to your current dues.”

Professor Snape spun on his heel, brushing off some of the sludge that had splattered on his cloak. He loomed over your desk, and you were waiting for some sort of demeaning comment from the man, but to your complete surprise, he did nothing of the likes. “Decent work Wolfe. For once.” This time, you made no effort to hide your gleeful grin at the man’s compliment. You simply couldn’t help it. Finally getting acknowledged for your hard work made your heart soar.


	3. Year Three

You stood in the dark, freezing dungeons, hidden away in the potions classroom while all the other students studied or socialized among each other. The tutoring sessions you’d begun having with Snape last year carried over into your third year, and to be honest, you hoped they lasted until your seventh year here. You couldn’t help but enjoy the one on one time with the professor. There was nothing around to distract you; nobody hanging around waiting to ruin your hard work. It was peaceful.

Carefully, you added the last ingredient to the potion bubbling away in front of you. Your teacher hovered over your work and watched as you began stirring clockwise. Scrunching your face, you continued stirring as you waited for the inevitable explosion that was bound to happen. Surprisingly, it never occurred, and you glanced into the cauldron at the red liquid. With questioning eyes, you glanced up at your teacher, waiting for his comment you were sure was about to come. “Very good.” Your eyes widened slightly at his praise. You had been prepared for anything but a compliment from the man. “I’m pleased to say you have successfully brewed a Fire Protection potion. And this time, it seems as though you’ve managed to keep both of your eyebrows.”

There it was, the demeaning words you’d been waiting for. You stopped stirring the potion as you glanced up at your professor, noting the minuscule smirk on his lips. Idly, your left hand made its way up to your eyebrow which had finally returned to normal after a rather harsh tutoring session two weeks ago. Sighing lightly, you thanked your professor. You usually loved being able to spend time here in the dungeons with him as he taught you everything you needed to know and then some, but tonight you wanted nothing more than to slink back off to your dorm and sleep.

Snape’s hands came to rest on the desk as he leaned in closer, getting to be eye level with you. “Now, Wolfe, as per usual, is there anything I should know about?” It had become rather commonplace for your teacher to question you at the end of every study session. During your time together, the two of you had built a somewhat friendly relationship, and you truly trusted the professor, but there were still some things you didn’t wish to bring up to him.

“Everything is fine, Professor,” you offered as you began cleaning your workstation. You milled about, doing anything you could to keep your eyes off your teacher.

“So, has my class really become that boring to you that you feel the need to sleep through it now?”

Your cheeks flushed red. You’d hoped your professor hadn’t noticed your momentary lapse earlier. During class that day, you’d been staring down at your book, fighting to keep your eyes open, and the next thing you knew, Molly was jabbing you in the side. Sheepishly, you glanced at your teacher who was still leaning against your desk. “You noticed, and I don’t have detention for it?” You were honestly shocked. Never had you heard of a student not getting detention for the smallest slip up, let alone falling asleep in class.

Snape’s next words were harsh, and yet his eyes stayed rather soft. “Don’t press your luck. So, what is it that has you sleeping during class?”

Not having anything left to clean, you were forced to maintain eye contact with Snape. Nervous, you began wringing your hands idly. “I just don’t sleep well at night anymore.”

Across from you, your teacher let out a small sigh before reaching into his robes. He produced a small, crystal phial that held a clear liquid within it. You immediately identified it as Veritaserum. “Three years Wolfe. I thought we’d gotten past me having to threaten you with this to get you to speak to me.” Your eyes followed his hand as he placed the phial on the desk and used a single finger to nudge it closer to you.

Not taking your eyes off the potion resting on the desk, you battled with yourself. Of course, as always, you wound up caving and giving in to your professor’s wishes. “Rhett burned my notes, and I’ve been staying up at night trying to copy Molly’s so I don’t fall even more behind in class than I already have.”

With yet another sigh, Snape reached out and snatched the Veritaserum from where it sat in front of you and placed it back in his pocket. “When will you learn to come to me about these things? I really shouldn’t have to threaten you to figure out the truth.”

The small amount of disappointment that laced Snape’s words struck a chord in you. Of all the people at Hogwarts, Snape was the last you wanted disappointed in your actions. “Professor, I just don’t want to look—”

“Weak, I know,” Snape cut you off. It wasn’t the first time you’d admitted this to him. “But, asking for a helping hand when you need it does not make you weak.” You let Snape’s words sink in as you watched him turn away from you and make his way to the front of the classroom. He grabbed something off his desk and quickly made his way back to where you still remained behind the desk. “As for your notes, here.” Snape handed you the item he’d grabbed from his desk. Your hands closed around the worn leather cover of a well-used book. Opening the black cover and flipping through the first few pages, you realized just what it was you were holding. Snape’s personal potion notes. Quickly you closed the book and looked back at your professor who was watching you intently. “Just return it to me when you’re done with it.”

You were awestruck. “I don’t know what to say, thank you Professor!” You cradled the book close to your chest, excited to learn ahead and finally copy down notes that might actually make sense to you. With this, you were dismissed back to your dorm, and you quickly took off down the hall, ready to learn everything you could that night.

~~

You couldn’t escape it. No matter what you tried, your tormentor simply wouldn’t leave you alone. You tried threats, verbal assault, laying low, and yet nothing worked. Everything only seemed to get worse. Quill in hand, you were jotting down everything Snape was furiously scribbling away on the board. You jumped slightly as a charmed paper airplane skipped to a stop on top of your parchment. Curious, you warily unfolded the plane that had a few ink blotches seeping through the thick paper. Smoothing out the folds, you read the single line that had been hastily scrawled, _Glad to see you finally got your notes back._

Before you could fully process the sentence, the paper went up in flames before you. Letting out a surprised squeak, you instantly popped out of your chair and without thinking, you went to grab the tiny fireball that was now starting to spread to your beautifully organized notes. Immediately filled with regret, you yanked your burned hands back as quick as possible. Not concerned with their state currently, you panicked and did the next best thing you could think of: you grabbed the first thing you could get your singed hands on, aka, the tail end of your robes, and you began beating the flames with them.

Thankfully, you managed to put out the small campfire that had begun to engulf your desk. Yanking your still smoldering potions notes off the desk, you let out a long sigh seeing that they were useless now as the hungry flames devoured half of them. In the midst of the chaos, you didn’t realize that the entire room had turned to stare at the scene unfolding before them. Molly had scooted her chair away from the desk in panic, leaving you to sort out the issue on your own. As Rhett and his cronies began snickering across the room from you, she came over and laid a wary hand on your shoulder.

“You can always borrow mine to copy again,” she offered, eyeing your destroyed work.

The sound of a throat clearing brought you out of your stupor, and your eyes slowly met the darkened gaze of Professor Snape. Never before in your life had you wanted to disappear as bad as you did in this moment. “Wolfe.” He paused, glancing down at the burned papers you clutched in your red, throbbing hands. “You know the drill.”

Sighing, you nodded. “Meet you after class, Professor.”

Without a word, Snape turned on his heel to make his way back to the board. As he walked, without even sparing a glance in their direction, he said, “Devine, Kolster, Ridgell. Thirty points from Slytherin and a week’s detention. With me.”

The trio let out a collective groan, and as Snape resumed his post at the front of the room, class continued on as though nothing had happened.

All too soon, class was dismissed, and that left you gathering your belongings before heading to the front of the room to meet your teacher. He sat behind his desk; eyes glued to a paper he was obviously making corrections to. “Let me see your hands,” was the only thing he said to you as you stood before the desk.

Confused, you clutched your books tighter, causing a dull pain to radiate from the burns. “But—”

Before you could say anything else, Snape lashed out and grabbed your right wrist, yanking your arm close to him. Your face flushed as his eyes scoured your palm, assessing the damage. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he released his grasp and glanced up at you. “You’re lucky you only received minor burns from that stunt you pulled. Will you willingly tell me what happened this time?”

Slowly, you nodded. You’d had enough of Rhett by now and remembered the kind words the Professor had told you not too long ago. “Rhett burned my notes again. I just don’t get it, sir. What did I do to deserve this?”

You swore you saw pity flash in his obsidian orbs. “Some people just don’t understand that which is different. You did nothing wrong, Autumn.” Your eyes widened hearing Snape use your first name for the first time in the three years you’d known him. He seemed to realize what he’d done as well, and he quickly cleared his throat, holding his hand out toward you. “Give me your notes.”

Flustered, you fumbled around, trying to secure the singed papers the best you could with shaky hands. Quickly, you produced them and placed the soiled parchment in Snape’s waiting grasp. Eyeing the papers with disgust, Snape used his other hand to pull his wand from where he kept it secured in his robes. With a simple flick of his wrist, you watched as the lost half of your work came back into existence.

Blinking a few times, you reached out to take your newly fixed parchment from Snape. With a smile, you thanked your teacher and when he said nothing back, you knew you were dismissed. Smile still plastered across your features, you happily made your way from the potions classroom onto your next class with Professor McGonagall.

~

It had been about three months since the incident with the fire, and you were absolutely elated. Since Rhett had to suffer through two weeks of detention with none other than Professor Snape himself, your torture had been brought down to a minimum. Now that you could actually focus on your studies, and you still had your tutoring sessions with the Professor, your grades definitely showed the difference. You’d managed to go from second to last to third in the class. With a little more time and effort, you were sure you could secure the top spot.

Being the highest grade in that class of all the Slytherin students also had its perks. Most of the students in your house didn’t exactly want to go to another house for help, so, many a times you found yourself tutoring your peers in your off time. You were currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Slytherin common room with your notes and textbook strewn out in front of you. A male you’d never even really glanced at twice from the same year as you mirrored your position, and he stared down at his textbook with his brow furrowed. “Wait, so you take the potion off the heat and stir _after_ adding the Fire Seeds?”

You nodded. “You might not be as hopeless as you think, Tate,” you commented with a sly smirk. Recently, Tate had been coming to you for help more often than any of the other students. The boy was utterly clueless about how to create the Cure for Uncommon Poisons when you first started reviewing the recipe with him. Now he almost had it, but still got hung up on a few of the specifics. As you began reviewing the recipe once again with him, Molly flopped down onto the floor beside you. With a smile, you glanced over at her and you were instantly confused.

Sitting beside Molly was a petite blonde girl, not of your year. “Autumn, this is Lizabeth. She’s a second year that is in a somewhat similar spot that you were in last year. I overheard her talking to her friends about how hopeless potions has become for her.” You gave a pitying glance to the blonde, and she just stared back at you, scared out of her wits. “I told her to come speak with you as last year you almost completely flunked Snape’s class and now, here you are, teaching poor little Tate who doesn’t understand anything.” Across from you, Tate stuck out his tongue at Molly. “Anyway, for some reason she was too nervous to come speak with you, I guess because you’re a third year or something, and now, here we are.”

Trying to comprehend the situation, you pinched the bridge of your nose. “Molly,” you began, fixing her with an even stare, “Did you really kidnap one of our younger housemates just so I could tutor her?”

Molly folded her arms across her chest, her face pulling itself into an indignant pout. “When you put it that way, it just sounds cruel. I’m only trying to help. Besides, you’re the best person for the job. You’re third in the class now for all of third years.”

Sighing, you rolled your eyes at your best friend and turned to address the younger girl who still looked completely bewildered. “I’m sorry that my friend here took it upon herself to drag you all this way and embarrass you. If you do really need help in class though, I’m definitely willing to lend a helping hand. Like Molly so wonderfully pointed out, I’m usually here in the commons room studying with Tate most nights. You’re welcome to join us if you’d like.”

Meekly, Lizabeth nodded her head. “Would you mind if I brought some friends? We’re all struggling to understand everything Professor Snape covers in class.”

Sending her a bright, hopefully reassuring smile, you told her, “The more the merrier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter for year four is a two part chapter. I didn't realize going into it that only the first event that happened was the length of a usual chapter so it's being broken up into two parts which is going to take me a little longer to put out. I'm officially caught up with everything I'd pre-written. I meant to drag the updates out a little more, but since you all love it so much I couldn't resist.


	4. Year Four part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why this turned out so long, but this is the first half of your Fourth Year. Hopefully I can get the second half out soon. I'm about a quarter of the way done with it, but right now it's kinda hard for me to type. I'll do my best though!

You’d been back at Hogwarts for a little over two months, and you couldn’t believe how much your life here had changed. Now in your fourth year, you’d made many more friends than you would’ve thought possible back in your first year here. You guessed that news of your tutoring sessions had spread, and those who took part in them spoke highly of you to their friends. Finally, it seemed as though the threats and poisonous words Rhett had been spreading around Slytherin had lost their value.

Sitting in the Great Hall, you were eating supper surrounded by Tate, Molly, Lizabeth, her friends, and a few other Slytherin members you’d started to become fond of. Laughter rang throughout your small group as Tate did his best to impersonate Professor Snape’s cold and uncaring façade. You chuckled slightly as you knew the truth about the man by now. He put up a front, but there were many a times last year and even a few this year that you got to see past it and come to realize the man had a true caring side.

Your smile slowly began to slip from your face as you watched out of the corner of your eye as Rhett, Kolster, and Ridgell began slinking toward where you sat. Tate, catching glimpse of your sour expression, nudged Molly in the side, and they both glanced in the direction of the trio approaching. Beneath the table, you felt Molly place a hand on your thigh, urging you to remain calm. It would be of no use though. It never was. Swallowing thickly, you locked eyes with Devine as he stood before you, hovering behind Lizabeth.

His cold, blue eyes bore holes through you. “Well, well, back for another year of torment are you, half-blood? Has daddy decided to take you back yet, or did he leave you stranded with your muggle mother?”

Your jaw clenched, but before you could say anything, Lizabeth surprised you by being the first to speak up. “Does anyone else smell that? With the amount of shit you spew from your mouth, you’re beginning to reek of it Devine.” Your eyes widened in shock. Lizabeth was usually the quietest, most levelheaded person you knew.

Rhett’s eyes snapped downwards, staring blandly at Liza. “What’s this? Did she slip you some kind of potion or something when you weren’t looking to get you to be her little pawns? I wouldn’t put it past her. Only logical explanation you lot would hang out with the likes of her.”

In a fit of anger, your hands slammed down onto the table, sending bits of your food flying in all directions. You didn’t care that you felt the warm burn of stew trailing its way down your legs to pool in your shoes. “A potion? That’s the best you can come up with? Not the fact that I care for my friends and actually help them better themselves? I’d say that’s leagues better than threatening people into submission until they hang out with you purely out of fear. Too afraid of the hell you’d put them through if they don’t do as you say.”

Devine rolled his eyes at your outburst. You noticed a silence spreading slowly across the hall as more and more eyes turned toward the scene unfolding at your table. “It’s a real shame that you all are dishonoring your family names by hanging around a half-blood like her. Fear or not, Kolster and Ridgell here know the right people to associate with.”

“Half-blood or not, she’s at least twice the person you could ever even hope to become,” Molly spoke up from where she now stood beside you.

Glancing at your black haired friend, you gave her a quick warning, “Molly—"

Her brown eyes flashed over to meet yours. “No, I’ve sat around for four years watching you suffer Autumn, and I’m not going to do it anymore. Not by the likes of him.” Molly jabbed a slender finger in Rhett’s direction before crossing her arms. “Nothing but a spoiled brat who thinks he can get away with whatever he pleases simply because of a name and some family lines. He doesn’t even deserve to walk these halls with that attitude.”

Rage flashed across Rhett’s features. Hearing those words from you in the past had angered him, but to hear them come from someone who should’ve been on his side sent him into a fit. “How dare you. You think that you can get away with a comment like that? I thought better of you, but I guess I was wrong.” Time seemed to come to a halt as you watched Devine reach into his robes and yank his wand free. “Flipendo!”

Your eyes widened in horror as you could do nothing but watch as Molly went tumbling backward. She let out a surprised wail, and what seemed like hours later, you heard the thump of her body striking the hard, stone floor. There was a rush of movement as Tate all but fell from his seat rushing to her side. Unhindered rage coursed through your veins and took control of your body. You didn’t realize what you were even doing until it was too late. Your wand was in your hand, pointed directly at Devine. Against your better judgment, your body went through the motions, and the spell fell past your lips. “Stupefy!”

Rhett’s muscles completely locked and his face went blank as he was sent flying back into the wall behind him. You could do nothing more than stare at his frozen form in horror over what you’d just done. You were going to be expelled. You’d just performed a spell on another student outside of class. In front of all the teachers of all places. As your mind reeled, you were brought back to the present by your wand being yanked free from your grasp.

Your wide eyes met the familiar onyx gaze of Professor Snape. As usual, his expression was completely guarded as he demanded, “Just what is going on here?”

When you made no move to respond, Tate spoke up for you. “Professor Snape, Autumn was only trying to defend Molly. I don’t think she really understood what she was doing.”

You watched as Snape’s eyes narrowed a miniscule amount. “Understanding or not, it doesn’t matter. Come with me Wolfe.” Weakly, you nodded at the professor and tried to follow him, but you couldn’t get your body to respond to your will anymore. With a huff, Snape grabbed hold of your elbow and half-drug your numb body out of the Great Hall. As soon as you were out of sight of the rest of the students, Snape released his hold on you and spun with a flourish to face you. “Explain yourself.”

Finally, you remembered how to speak. “I-I don’t know what came over me, Professor. Devine attacked Molly, and I just, I don’t know. Suddenly my wand was in my hand, Devine was on the floor, and then you showed up. I really didn’t mean to do it, sir.”

Snape said nothing as he stared at you, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he clenched and unclenched it a few times. “Like I said, whether you meant to do it or not, it is in the hands of Dumbledore now. Come on, I must take you to his office.” With that, Snape grabbed your arm again and began leading you down the empty hallways toward Professor Dumbledore’s office. As you neared the headmaster’s office, your heart began to race. This was it. You were going to be sent back home, and your father was going to laugh in your face about how you failed. Would you even be allowed to stay at home any longer?

You couldn’t help the tears that began welling in your eyes. In your time at Hogwarts, you’d been through the ringer and managed to hold it together, but finally, being sent to the headmaster’s office pushed you over the edge. As you sniffled quietly, unbeknownst to you, Snape glanced down at your face out of the corner of his eye. His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the tears falling down your cheeks. Finally, he let go of you once again and tried to get your attention, but you refused to look at him. You busied yourself with clearing your face of your tears with the sleeve of your robe. “Wait here. I’m going to go speak with Professor Dumbledore.”

Standing in the hallway alone now, you wrapped your arms tightly around your torso as if trying to hold yourself together. “Wolfe come here. Professor Dumbledore world like to have a word with you.” Snape’s voice startled you out of your reverie, and you stumbled over yourself as you rushed to follow him into the headmaster’s office.

Dumbledore had been standing behind his desk, but at the sound of Snape’s return and your arrival, he glanced at you with a kind smile. “Ah, young Miss Wolfe. It’s a shame to finally get to speak with you given the situation at hand.” Dumbledore began to walk out from behind his desk, raising his hands in what would’ve been considered a calming gesture. “Not to worry Autumn, Professor Snape filled me in on all the details. He’s actually been doing that for a while now.” The man’s smile widened as he took in your confused stare.

“It is true,” Snape added when you glanced accusingly in his direction.

“Severus here has expressed his concern over Mr. Devine’s actions to me many a times. I wish I had stepped in sooner, but alas, I hoped it could be dealt with without my intervention. It would seem as though that is no longer an option though.” Dumbledore now stood directly in front of you. “Once he’s been cleared from the medical wing, I will be having a talk with the boy. I'm quite sure Minerva already took care of that for me much to Poppy's dismay."

Your mind was reeling. Did this mean you weren’t in trouble? Snape had been going to Dumbledore this entire time to express his _concern_ for you? You couldn’t believe any of what you were hearing. “One a lighter note, I only see a brave, loyal student standing before me. You acted in defense of those you hold dear to you. I see no reason to whole-heartedly punish such actions, and instead will leave that up to the head of your house.”

Both you and Dumbledore turned your heads to stare anxiously at Professor Snape. “One month’s detention Wolfe. The usual days, after class. You’ll still have your extra lessons after dinner.”

“Very well,” Dumbledore began speaking once again, and your gaze reluctantly slid back to his kindly smiling face. “I’m sure you’ve learned from this experience today Miss Wolfe.” Dumbledore leaned in closer to you, dropping his voice to a whisper. “And I’m quite sure Severus will fill you in on the details of our chat with Rhett later.” He used this opportunity to place your wand back into your palm. You'd completely forgotten Professor Snape had confiscated it from you earlier. Grinning madly, Dumbledore pulled away from you. “Now, run along Autumn, we’ve kept you from class long enough.”

Eyes wide as saucers, you nodded meekly at your headmaster and quickly rushed from the room. You didn’t spare a single glance at Snape as you all but ran from the room. What had Dumbledore meant by the hushed words he’d told you? Your head was absolutely spinning after everything that had just occurred. Pressing your hands harshly against your eyes, you let out a long drawn out groan. On the brightside, you hadn’t been expelled. Shaking your head, you began making the trek through the halls to Professor McGonagall’s class.

~~

The next day you made it through your classes as normal, but you noticed you were receiving a lot of odd stares. As you made your way through the halls, you couldn’t help but notice the other students began whispering as you passed by. Annoyed, you shoved your way into your last class of the day and threw your books down on your desk. “I’ve had it,” you groaned, flopping down into your chair beside Tate.

Your friend sent you a questioning glance. “With . . .?”

“Everyone!” you whisper-shouted back at him. “Everyone has been acting weird toward me all day.”

Tate smirked at your frustration. “I mean, you did use the Stupefy spell against another Slytherin student in the middle of the Great Hall during lunch. You also escaped with only a month’s worth of detention. It also doesn’t help that you stood up to the school’s worst tyrant.”

You let your head fall against the rough wood of the desk. A small thump could be heard as your forehead collided with the table. “I didn’t even mean to. It’s all a blur to me. I just wish everyone could forget it happened.”

“I doubt that will happen, especially with the venomous looks you’ve been receiving from Devine’s cronies all day.”

“Don’t remind me,” you grumbled. Rhett had been released from the infirmary that morning, and he was currently in Dumbledore’s office. Still. Hours later. What you wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall right now. You were forced to be silent now and focus on your lessons as Professor Flitwick clambered his way up his stack of books in the front of the room and began teaching.

Halfway through the lesson, the door to the classroom opened and quickly slammed shut. You glanced up from your now ruined parchment as the sudden noise had caused your quill to go askew on the page, and you watched as Rhett stormed to his usual seat. Flitwick paid no mind to the interruption and continued with his lesson as though nothing had happened.

Finally, class was over and everyone else was free for the day, but you were nowhere near done with your day. Waving goodbye to Tate and Molly, you trudged your way through the halls and down to the dungeons. It was your first official day of detention with Professor Snape, and you sighed as you stood before the all too familiar door to his classroom. Shoving it open, you stepped past the threshold and set your books down on the desk closest to you. Making your way to where Snape sat behind his desk, you began rolling your sleeves up, preparing yourself for the mountain of cauldrons he'd have you scrubbing today.

After a few moments, Snape finally glanced up at you and cocked an eyebrow as he took in your form. Noting your rolled sleeves, he shook his head. "The fact that you know to roll your sleeves in preparation for detention with me shows you've had it far too many times Wolfe." Not wanting to dig yourself into a hole, you just shrugged at his words. "You're in luck. Until further notice, your punishment is to re-label, clean, and sort my personal stores of ingredients."

Your eyes widened slightly. Was he taking it easy on you? You'd been scrubbing cauldrons for the last three years. You definitely weren't going to turn your nose up at his offer of a different punishment. Without waiting for a response, your professor stood and began making his way into a small side room. Unsure of yourself, you trailed along behind him and as you stepped into the room, your eyes went as wide as saucers. You couldn't believe it. The shelves were absolutely jam packed with every ingredient you could think of, and even some you'd never heard of before. "This is going to take forever," you muttered under your breath.

Snape spun on his heel, preparing to make his way back to his desk. "Good thing you have a month to get it done."


End file.
